I do appreciate this forum's member's depth of knowledge and willingness to share it. After being offered a discounted price of $2500 to change the front rotors, left drive axle and eliminate the leakage on the valve covers, I ordered $700 of parts from Pelican and will bust out tools and skills I put away 30 years ago to:
1. change the front rotors , pads and wear sensors myself (seems pretty straightforward),
2. change the spark plug tubes and re-torque the valve cover bolts (and see if that eliminates the minimal leakage before I go to another DE event), and
3. remove the drive axle and assess the condition. The rubber boot was not torn 6 months ago when I last had it up on a lift, so I may be able to avoid replacement of the entire assembly and just replace the boots and anything damaged inside.
I'll let you know how it goes. It's often a challenge to start taking apart things that have been together and untouched for a dozen years, but I want to enjoy the next 70K miles of use in this very capable and smile-inducing car.
